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Chapter One

Remus Lupin was sitting at the bar, contemplating his ale and wondering
where to go next. He was still not completely recovered from his last
transformation, but he had started hearing the whispers, and knew it was
time to move on before suspicions became fact. Catching a glimpse of himself
in the mirror over the fireplace, he noted with a sigh the ragged edges
of his robes and the unnaturally sharp angles of his face, and decided
with a bitter frown that it would be impossible to find a decent job anywhere.
As he raised the glass to take a sip of his drink, he heard a commotion
in the next room and got up to check it out, happy to have a diversion
from his tiresome and unprofitable musings. He opened the door to the
back room of the pub and saw a girl trying to hold off three men attacking
her with Stunning Spells from several directions at once. Remus instinctively
drew his wand and cried "Expelliarmus!" catching all four wands
and pointing his at the largest man.

"What's going on here?" he asked, looking at each in turn.
Suddenly the girl drew a sword and had one of the men on the ground, her
weapon pointed at his throat as she stood over him. "Who sent you?
Was it Harold? Edgar? Gwendolyn?" She pressed the weapon in, drawing
blood. "Well? I'll finish off all of you in turn, if I don't get
an answer."

"Just wait a minute! Who are you, and get that sword out of that
man's throat or I'll Stun you where you stand." Remus was shocked
at the girl's action. She looked eighteen at the most.

The girl stared up at him with pale green eyes and said, "This isn't
your fight, whoever you are, so I'd appreciate it if you'd give me back
my wand and let me finish my business."

"I'd appreciate some thanks from you. These three had you cornered.
Now put that sword away!" She gave him a furious look but slowly
put her sword back in its scabbard and simultaneously placed her foot
on the man's throat, causing him to choke and gasp for air as she pressed
down with her full weight. His two companions started forward, ready to
attack again as they realized Remus could only cover one of them.

Remus sighed at the memory of the barely touched ale still sitting on
the bar but stepped forward, dropping the men's wands and grasping the
girl firmly with one arm as he Apparated well outside the town. As soon
as they were firmly established on the ground, he pointed his wand at
her, saying "Keep that damned weapon put away. I'm not going to hurt
you, but you owe me an explanation as payment for saving your life. Those
wizards may have been using Stunning spells, but it obviously wouldn't
have ended there." He handed her wand back to her, keeping his pointed
at her throat.

"Did I ask you to interfere? I would have had them-"

"You would have been dead. Come on, let's go somewhere less conspicuous
and you can explain to me why I wasted a good ale to save your ungrateful
hide."

She surveyed him head to foot, eyebrow raised, then broke into unexpected
laughter. "I guess I do owe you a drink, at the very least. Let's
find a pub and I'll do some explaining. It won't take too long."

Sitting in a corner of a sparsely inhabited pub, Remus took a close survey
of her as she took a long sip of her wine. She wasn't pretty exactly,
but she had the look of an aristocrat, with fiercely intelligent eyes
over high, slanted cheekbones set off by a stubborn jaw. Her robe was
finely tailored, and her thick, dark hair was done up in a sloppy coil.

"Well? Why is a girl of obviously good family and some wealth brawling
in pubs? With a sword? Isn't that a bit anachronistic? And how did you
end up in England, since from your accent I assume you're French?"

"I am French, but I have no parents and must work for a living.
As a matter of fact, you just made my job quite a bit harder, since now
I'm not sure who's upset with me."

"That's a good story. Now how about the truth."

"That's it. By the way, my name is Viviane. Yours?"

"Remus Lupin."

They shook hands, and Viviane continued, "Why did you get involved?
You could have gotten killed yourself - those guys aren't people to mess
with. I think they were enforcers for a rival of the wizard I'm working
for. I - eh - have made life a little difficult for them lately, as well
as lessened their numbers by a wizard or two."

Remus laughed, incredulous. "You're telling me you're a lieutenant
for some kind of wizard mobster? You?" He was laughing so hard he
nearly upset his ale. "You look like you can barely handle a complex
Transfiguration Spell."

"I don't need to do complex Transfiguration Spells to be a basic
thug. But I'm an expert at swordsmanship, and know enough spells, charms
and curses to keep opponents busy for some time. Your turn. What are you,
some kind of Gringotts employee out on a lark?"

Remus scowled. "No. I'm unemployed at the moment, and on my way
to somewhere else to try and find work."

"Oh. Why don't you try the area around Liverpool? That's where I'm
headed. We can't Apparate directly there; there will be too many Muggles
around, and we'll have to do some walking between towns. I'll pay for
your lodging if you'll come along and watch my back. Since you rescued
me so precipitately, I don't know where the danger is coming from and
could use another pair of eyes."

Remus studied Viviane. She was terribly impulsive and possibly one of
the strangest people he'd ever met, but her offer of lodging was tempting.
As long as it didn't include-

"Oh, and we're getting separate rooms, Mr. Lupin. Just in case you-"

"Please, call me Remus. And I'll take your offer. Do you have a
last name, by the way?"

"Chance." She then spelled it out for him, since the French
pronunciation differed from the English. "Shall we?"

They left the pub and started down the road in the mellow autumn evening,
the handsome, shabbily dressed young man and well-dressed girl making
an odd pair as their robes swept through the piles of leaves on the ground.

"Let me get this straight. You work for this aforementioned wizard,
doing whatever job he needs you for? How on earth did you meet him?"

Viviane laughed, and the mischievous note in her voice and the sly sparkle
in her eyes made Remus catch his breath as he was vividly reminded of
Sirius.

"I was broke, drunk and ended up pouring out my misery to Mort as
he sat at a bar. He tried to pick me up, but found I was more useful as
an associate than a potential bedmate. A good swordfighter with a thorough
grounding in spells is hard to find."

"Oh." Remus thought that each conversation with her was stranger
than the last. "And it pays well? Why not just find a teaching job?"

"I'm not much of a teacher. And yes, it does pay very well. Here's
a good spot to Apparate; the next wizard town isn't too far away."

"That sounds great to me," Remus said, tired and eager for
a good night's sleep.

****

They were on the last leg of their journey to Shipley, and a light rain
was falling as they walked along the road towards town, well sheltered
by the Repelling Spell they had put on their cloaks. Remus was in a contemplative
mood, finding the gray skies and light patter of rain on leaves soothing
as he speculated upon what kind of employment he might be able to find.
He occasionally glanced over at his traveling partner, who seemed overly
confident, if anything, when dealing with innkeepers, barmaids and at
asking for information. She was amazingly skilled at refusing to give
any, however. Despite Remus' best efforts, he didn't know much more about
her than he did the first day they met.

His peaceful reverie was rudely interrupted by a pair of rough-looking
wizards that burst out from behind the trees lining the road and, drawing
their wands, shot alternate Patrificus Curses and Stunning Spells at Viviane.

She had her wand and sword out before they had cleared their hiding place,
and easily deflected their attack with a Shield Charm. Laughing gleefully,
she advanced on them, maiming one in his wand arm with her sword, and
smacking the other across the temple with the flat of the blade as she
whirled away from the first man in a blur of robes and hair. Stunned,
the man staggered sideways while the first shifted his wand to his other
hand and attempted an infuriated barrage of curses and spells that kept
Viviane busy parrying them. Remus stood still, amazed at the scene, until
Viviane huffed, "Remus! Get out your damned wand and take care of
that idiot!" Belatedly, he realized that the man she'd Stunned had
recovered and was again taking aim at her. Remus drew his wand and prepared
to hit the attacker with a Patrificus Curse, but the man lost heart at
facing a second opponent and fled back into the woods. Seeing his partner
abandon him, the other let up and Apparated, leaving Viviane and Remus
alone in the road.

Blinking with shock, Remus asked Viviane, "What was that about?"

"That's the sort of thing I hired you to help out with. Be a little
more prepared next time, eh?" She threw her head back and laughed,
apparently exhilarated by the experience. "What a sorry pair. They
didn't even present a decent challenge. At least I know now who's trying
to get me. I recognize those two idiots; they work for Gwendolyn. She
and Mort are engaged in a territory war over whose girls work what areas-"

"Girls? You mean prostitutes?"

"What else would I mean? They aren't fighting over shopgirls and
stableboys. How tall was that ivory tower you escaped from, anyway? Come
on, let's get moving and find someplace to eat because I'm starving."

Remus tilted his head and looked at her in vague disbelief, as she stood
among the leaves they'd stirred up, face flushed and hair in a wild tangle,
her dark green robes blending with the colors of the foliage along the
road. He wondered at her lightness of heart amidst the obvious dangers
she faced, but felt his own spirits lift a little as an unwilling grin
spread across his face. "All right. I'll try to be a little more
helpful if this happens again. You just need to give me time to adjust
to life in the criminal underworld."

"Adjust quickly, will you? Next time the attackers might not be
so stupid or so slow."

****

As they approached Shipley, the pair skirted the Muggle settlement and
Remus followed Viviane as she scanned the area and finally walked up to
a closed junk shop that looked like it was about to topple over. She placed
her hand on the head of a crumbling statue of a manticle and muttered
"Hermetic Alley." An archway appeared in the side of the shop,
and they both walked through to the wizard section of town. "This
place was a real hotbed of Death Eater activity, I've heard," Viviane
explained. "So the inhabitants have set up extra precautions these
days." They found a decent-looking inn whose main room was most inviting,
with dark paneled walls and a huge stone fireplace surrounded by comfortable
chairs. A cheerful-looking woman with blue eyes and a knot of light brown
hair was presiding over the bar against one wall, and the tables were
crowded with people consuming the usual pub fare.

"Hello, luvs. My, you look like you've come a ways. Do you need
a room?" queried the woman behind the bar. Viviane was amused to
see her glance of obvious appreciation at Remus.

"Rooms, actually. We may be here for a month or two. I'm working
for Mortimer."

"Oh, you work for Mort! Well, it's wonderful to meet you, my dear.
You certainly don't look like the usual type he hires. So young! And you?"
she asked Remus.

To his great annoyance, Remus found himself blushing as he answered,
"Er, I came here to look for work, Mrs., I mean Miss-"

"My name's Emma, luv. Let me get somebody to show you some rooms.
I'll be up later to make sure they meet all of your requirements."

As they followed another witch up the steps, Viviane shot Remus a sly
look and raised an eyebrow.

"Not a word, Viviane," Remus growled. "Not a single word."
He decided that if Emma knocked on his door he would definitely be fast
asleep and unable to answer.

****

The next day Viviane went off to track down her boss, and Remus took
a survey of the town, finding some job possibilities as a curse-breaker
and a Defense instructor for the locals. When he got back he found Viviane
in the main room, ensconced in a chair, reading, her feet on the fender
and with a mug of coffee next to her. Remus sat down and glanced at her
book. "A History of 13th Century Wizard Warfare.
You go in for light reading, do you?"

"Remus! How did the job search go?" She took a sip of her drink
and grimaced. "Why can't this country brew decent coffee? And the
wine isn't much better."

"Try ale." He laughed at the face she made. "I found some
possibilities. And you?"

She leaned back and closed her book. "I have to cover a shipment
that arrives tomorrow, and make sure it gets to Liverpool, so I may be
gone for a few days."

"Dare I ask?"

"No."

"Dare I ask you to be careful?"

"Only if you promise not to be tiresome about it."

Remus leaned forward to speak more quietly. "Viviane, I just don't
understand. Why are you doing this, taking these risks when it's obvious
that you were destined for better things? You should be at Beauxbatons,
or working for the French Ministry. This-"

"I have nowhere to go in France, because I got expelled from school.
I told you I have no family and I really am better off here, doing what
I'm doing. Please don't ask me to explain. Now, why is a nice young man
like you scrounging for menial jobs when it's obvious you're well-educated
and highly trained? At Hogwarts, most likely. Hm?"

To her surprise, a look of deep sorrow crossed Remus' face, and he said,
"It was, like I suspect it was for you, a combination of untoward
circumstances that lead me to this. Come, shall we have dinner?"

"That's an evasion-" Viviane broke off as Remus' face closed
down in a forbidding mask. "Sounds good to me - I'm famished!"
she concluded.

****

Viviane left with her shipment of contraband goods, and Remus accepted
work as a Defense instructor for a small group of wizards still worried
about Death Eaters. The first day of class, he surveyed the half-dozen
witches and wizards gathered about, and decided to just get down to business.
After an hour of basic instruction in Confundus Charms, he dismissed class,
and a distinguished looking wizard with dark curly hair, greyed at the
temples, and sharp dark eyes came up to speak to him.

"Mr. Lupin. My name is Anthony Scipio. I'm the local Healer for
Shipley, and we're thrilled to have a Hogwarts graduate to teach us the
finer points of Defense. Especially one that's been through the wars."

Lupin was slightly taken aback. "How did you-"

"Oh, I do my research! I'm sorry that Hogwarts lost so many-"

"Thanks. One question, though. The war is over; why are you still
so worried?"

The wizard ran a hand through his hair and said, "Shipley was hit
hard by Death Eaters. We're still not sure they're entirely gone, and
are afraid they may still attempt revenge on those who fought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Look, Mr. Lupin-"

"Remus."

"Call me Anthony. My wife, Melinda, told me to bring you home for
dinner. Please, do. This town has been so overrun by thieves and con men
lately, I've not had a good conversation with an educated man for some
time. I can promise some good food and a decent glass of brandy afterwards."

****

Remus fell onto his bed and stared up at his ceiling, just a little tipsy
and feeling happier than he'd been for some time. Anthony turned out to
be a wonderful conversationalist, and after a tasty dinner prepared by
his shy but pleasant wife, they sat in his study and Remus found himself
talking about esoteric subjects not touched on since he graduated from
Hogwarts. While discussing Anthony's residence in Italy, they discovered
their mutual interest in astronomy, which had been part of the curriculum
at the medical school the Healer had attended. Obviously thrilled to have
found another enthusiast, his host lead him up the tower attached to his
house, where Remus was invited to use a magnificent telescope. As Remus
turned the settings to bring the star Sirius into view, Anthony had remarked,
"You came on a perfect night for this; there's no moon." Remus
gave a start and had to redo his settings, but soon found what he was
looking for.

"Padfoot," he whispered to the walls of his room, and as he
got up to get ready for bed he wondered if there would ever be a time
when everything didn't lead back to that moment in the street, with Sirius
and Peter, and a freshly shattered world.

****

Remus and Viviane fell into a routine of working for the day, then returning
to compare stories over dinner. Viviane even introduced Mortimer, a tall,
powerfully built man with thick gray hair and disconcertingly blue eyes,
who raised his eyebrows at Remus and seemed to find him terribly amusing.
"My goodness, how did you end up keeping company with this French
hellion?" he asked. "A nice Englishman like yourself?"

Remus looked quizzically at Viviane, who shrugged, and then all three
of them collapsed in laughter. "Ah good, you have a sense of humor.
Well, you'll need it if you're going to spend time with this one."
He pulled Viviane's ear playfully and walked off to talk to Emma.

"Quite a character," Remus remarked. "Powerful?"

"Very. He controls several operations in the North. He's treated
me fairly and kept me busy, which is all I can ask for right now."

"Viviane-"

"Shut up, Remus. I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow evening."

****

One morning over breakfast Remus announced that he was leaving for a
week.

"A week? Where are you going?"

"Never mind. Will you be here when I get back?"

"I hope so, unless Mortimer decides to send me off somewhere."

He didn't and when Remus came back, he ran into Viviane walking back
from the grocery store with a can of coffee.

"Viviane!" Remus smiled at her. "You've given up and gotten
a coffeepot?"

"Remus! I'm so glad you're back!" She stopped to take a closer
look at him. "What happened to you? You look ill. Where on earth
were you? You've lost at least 10 pounds, and you can't afford to lose
any."

Lupin said with a hint of a smile, "My turn to keep some secrets.
Is my room still open?"

"Yes it is! And I just got paid for a bit of extra work, so we're
going to have a very large dinner this evening. Come along!"

To Remus' surprise, he let himself be carried off, but he decided he
was too tired to argue with Viviane at the moment.

****

The drinks were going around, and Remus, who'd been invited by Mortimer
to join the group as he walked in after work, was amused in spite of himself
by their plan to scam an ex-Ministry official. Sirius would have loved
this, and James would have been horrified, he thought, and the familiar
pain stabbed through him. He was distracted from sorrowful thoughts by
Viviane hailing him as she entered the pub, dragging up a chair to their
table. Before she could sit, Mortimer reached out and pulled her into
his lap. "And how are you today, my aristocratic guttersnipe?"
he said affectionately as he motioned for Emma to bring her a drink.

"Just fine. Anything going on?"

"Oh, a little project concerning a ex-Ministry official, a few bits
of useful information and lots of gold. There's nothing for you to do,
unless-" He took her chin and turned her face about, looking at her
intently. "You know, you might do. You're not a beauty, but play
up that French accent and get you in a low-cut robe, loosen up the hair;
yes, you'd do perfectly. You're intelligent enough to act dumb."

Her face held firmly by the chin, she glared at him out of the corner
of her eye and said, "I'm a hired sword, not a hired courtesan."

"I don't need you to be a courtesan. Just a distraction. Hold him
in the bar while we investigate his room, that sort of thing. It would
be very easy for a smart girl like you, and you'd get a very nice bonus."

Viviane shrugged. "Sounds interesting-"

Remus interrupted, "No deal, unless I go along. This sounds simple,
but we don't know who she'll be dealing with, and she has no experience
in this sort of thing."

Viviane stood up. "Under no circumstances. Just how am I going to
explain your presence? As my houseboy?"

"As anything. Be creative. But I'm going to go along, because I
can just see you making a disaster out of this."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Remus-"

"Shut up, you two," barked Mortimer. "Well, Lupin, I never
thought a fine and discriminating gentleman like you would care to join
in our nefarious schemes." He smiled rather fiendishly. "But
it might not be a bad idea to have some backup. Lurk around and if Viv
mucks it up, step in and make a jealous scene, or act like an outraged
brother." He eyed Lupin. "You'd better stick with outraged brother.
You don't look like the jealous type."

****

Remus was about to knock on Viviane's door when he heard a shriek and
then a burst of giggles emanating from the room. Oh, no. She's had
Emma help her get ready, he thought and had to pause to gear himself
up to meet Emma's disconcerting glances. They were flattering, but he
wasn't exactly sure what it all meant. For the millionth time, Remus wondered
how he'd gotten mixed up in all this, then sighed and knocked. Emma opened
it and stood aside to let him in. "Our girl will have no problem
attracting Godfrey Pifflebaum, Remus. Make sure you keep your eye on her."

"Will do, Emma," he replied as she brushed past with a smile
and a wink and went downstairs.

"Remus, you really are being an idiot. I can do this by myself,
you know," Viviane greeted him as she turned from the mirror. Remus
stared at her in shock.

"Viviane, you really do look like an idiot. Where did they get that
robe?" He gazed in horror at the skin-tight red gown made of cheap
satin that displayed ample cleavage.

"They borrowed it from one of Mort's girls. How's the hair and makeup?
I so seldom wear it these days-"

"You look like you want to be picked up in a bar. So let's go and
do it."

"Shall we?" Viviane said with a grin, taking the arm Remus
offered her. They immediately both broke into a fit of laughter that they
had to stop and get the better of before walking downstairs.

As they entered the bar of the inn down the street from theirs, Viviane
spotted the ex-official that was her target from Mort's description. She
sat down next to him and ordered a gin and tonic that she knew would be
mostly tonic. Nerves strumming, she almost sensed rather than saw Remus
take a seat around the corner of the bar, out of sight but within hearing.
She chatted up her target, time passing rather slowly as she was forced
to listen to a long, drunken tale of how he'd embezzled thousands of Galleons
from the Ministry and left before he could be arrested.

All was going well until Godfrey decided he wanted a more private setting
for their conversation. He imperiously demanded a bottle of champagne
and a private room and taking Viviane by the hand, led her off. The barmaid
glanced at Remus, and handing him the bottle, pushed him towards the door.
Remus entered the room to find Viviane coquettishly holding the man off
as he leaned into her, recounting his younger triumphs.

Godfrey turned around and gesturing at Remus, said, "Go on, pour
it, man, and get out of here." Remus poured, then slammed the door,
but quietly retreated to a dark corner of the room.

The ex-official turned back to Viviane and said, "I like 'em like
you - not too pretty and stuck up, but nice and with some upholstery to
you. Those women that tended to join Voldemort, they were a snobby bunch,
'specially those Slytherin girls. That was no place to go to school, if
you ask me, 'specially if you got stuck in Hufflepuff like me. Being a
Death Eater was no fun on the fun end either, you know, but it sure was
profitable, if you know what I mean-"

Suddenly Godfrey crashed to the floor in a wave of blood, and Viviane
stood over him with a dagger, her face glowing but her eyes filled with
such cold rage that they chilled Remus to the marrow. Remus gazed at her,
stunned by her transformation and the body on the floor, and then the
metallic smell of warm blood and the sight of the gaping wound in the
man's chest overcame him and he had to run to the fireplace to vomit.

As he recovered, he gasped, "Viviane, what have you done! You've
killed him! Are you mad?"

Viviane prodded the body with a toe. "Do you think he really went
to Hogwarts?"

"What?! What kind of question is that?"

"Do you?"

"Damn it, yes, he did. He was three years ahead of me. Viviane-"

Viviane smiled slightly, and wiping some blood from her blade with her
finger, licked it slowly off. "That's two for one, then. Let's go.
Did you lock the door into the bar?"

"Yes!" said Remus, somewhat wildly.

She took her stunned friend by the elbow and left out the back. As they
reached their inn and went upstairs, she said "Goodnight!" and
went into her room, closing the door in Remus' face. Remus started to
knock, but something told him it wouldn't make a difference, so he prepared
to spend a sleepless night awaiting explanations.

When Viviane awoke, she was startled to find Remus sitting firmly in
a chair in front of her door. "Remus! How dare you break into my
room!"

Remus, arms and legs crossed, simply stared at her.

Viviane gave a stretch and a yawn and continued, "Well? Oh come
on, you know I'm no angel. The man was a Death Eater. He's wanted by the
Ministry for embezzlement, and as unsettled as things are now they aren't
going to waste time finding out who took him off their hands. Perhaps
I should apply for a reward!"

"I don't even know what to say to you. You killed that man - killed
him - without provocation-"

A faint echo of last night's rage glowed in Viviane's eyes as she said,
"You don't know my provocations. Trust me, I had some. You'll have
trust me, because I'm not discussing them at this time."

Remus got up, and Viviane realized, too late, that he was practically
beside himself with anger. She flinched a little, shocked by the intensity
of his emotion as he stood over her and said in a strained voice, "You've
put both of us in jeopardy by your inexcusable behavior last night. How
could you involve me in this mess-"

Viviane leapt out of bed, infuriated. "How could I? Did I ask you
to get involved? Did I beg you to come along? Please recall that it was
you-"

"Yes. I did. I agreed to a simple plan to hold the man downstairs,
not murder him. Now we've got a dead body, the Ministry most likely nosing
around, and have you even thought about what Mortimer is going to do when
he finds out? Viviane, he may think you're cute and indulge you when you
obey orders, but when you go around murdering people you're only supposed
to detain, he's not going to like it at all. It draws too much attention
to him."

Viviane rolled her eyes. "I'll handle Mort."

Remus' voice softened a little as he said, "You have a lot of growing
up to do. I feel awfully strange saying this to a murderer, but you have
no idea what you're dealing with here. I don't know why you did this,
but I simply can't take the risk of being hauled into court for murder
or beaten up by an angry mobster. I've made enough here to pay off my
bill, so I'll be going."

"You're leaving? Now?" Viviane sat back down, wide-eyed.

"After my class today. I packed up last night. Viviane, I can only
hope the best for you, but you're taking too many risks and frankly, you
scare me. If you could have seen your eyes last night-" Remus gave
a shiver, then quickly kissed her on the forehead, and left.

Viviane sat on the bed, bewildered. "What just happened?" she
said aloud. "Remus?"

But she didn't get an answer, and found that he had left for class. As
she got dressed for her next assignment, guarding a wizard on a journey
to York, she wondered whether she should try and stop him. He was nice
to have around, but something of a busybody. She couldn't deal with the
problem then, though, because she was already running late. We'll sort
this out tonight, she thought. He'll cool down.

On her way to the house where she was to meet the wizard she would be
protecting, Mortimer unexpectedly joined her.

"Come along, my dear, that little job has been cancelled."
He guided her into a house, lead her into an empty room and shut the door.
Eyeing her for a second and taking in her puzzled look, he then grabbed
her shoulders, lifted her off her feet and slammed her so hard into the
wall that it knocked the breath out of her. As she gasped for air, he
snarled, "What do you think you were doing, killing that man? How
dare you disobey orders and bring the Ministry down on me?" He slammed
her into the wall again and let go, allowing her to fall to the floor.
She landed in a crouch, looking up at him furiously and reaching for her
wand.

"Oh no, none of that. Expelliarmus!" As he caught her wand,
he pointed his at her and exclaimed, "Crucio!" Viviane let out
a scream, and curled into a ball as Mortimer leaned over her to hiss,
"I've killed people for less than this. But you're useful, intelligent
and young enough to learn the lesson I'm about to teach you. Crucio!"
Viviane flipped over, letting out a wail but glaring up at him through
the pain. "Ah yes, you do have spirit, don't you, my dear. Damon?
I need you in here." Mortimer made a gesture in Viviane's direction
as a brutal-looking wizard came into the room. He gave Mortimer a surprised
look as he pointed to Viviane and Mortimer nodded. The thug swung his
leg back and gave Viviane a kick in the ribs, audibly breaking some, then
aimed a blow at her back. Mortimer commented as he watched, "I'd
rather just use the Cruciatus on you, but I can't risk damaging your mind.
You're so damned stubborn, though, that I need to give you a lesson to
remember. And Damon will make sure you'll remember this one every time
you look in the mirror for the next week."

After a few more strategic kicks, Mortimer hauled Viviane to her feet
and held her up, grasping her jaw in a carelessly tight grip. "One
more, but not too hard. We don't want to damage her face permanently."
Viviane gave Damon a look that made him hesitate for less than a second
before his fist made contact with her cheekbone, snapping her head sideways.

Mortimer released his grip on Viviane, letting her collapse to the floor.
"Well my dear, that's it for now. Don't worry about showing up for
work - I'll let you have the week off. Vacation time." He laughed
as he left, only turning around once to put a lengthy, parting Cruciatus
Curse on her before tossing her wand at her and shutting the door.

She lay there for several hours, in too much pain to move, but finally
the cold cleared her senses enough for her to retrieve her wand and drag
herself to her feet. Dizzy, and aching in every part of her body, she
slowly made her way back to her room, taking back streets and alleyways,
shrouding her face in her cloak.

****

Remus was sorry to leave his students and beyond furious with Viviane
for what she'd done. It was first civilized existence he'd enjoyed since
Hogwarts. He liked teaching the Defenses that he knew, and he felt in
some way that he was making up for his failure to realize that Sirius
was a spy for Voldemort. And as far as he could tell, his students liked
him. Emily had even made him several batches of his favorite ginger snaps
over the last few weeks, and had wept a little when he announced he was
leaving. Anthony, shocked, tried to question him, but he curtly refused
to answer, merely saying that he'd had an urgent message, and had to go.

On the way back to the inn, he pondered once again about the murder Viviane
had committed, and shook his head for the umpteenth time that day, wondering
how an odd but seemingly levelheaded girl could harbor such deadly rage.
It was something he simply couldn't risk hanging around to find out the
answer for, no matter how pleasant his life had become.

As he walked up the steps to his room, he passed a hunched figure with
a mass of tangled hair, making its way slowly up the steps while clinging
to the railing. Remus was momentarily surprised, because he hadn't seen
a crone in years. As he was letting himself into his room, he noticed
that the crone was trying to unlock Viviane's door, and staring in disbelief,
he moved towards the figure and took its arm.

Viviane let out a scream and doubled over. "Don't touch me!"

"Viviane?" Remus said, aghast, as he pulled the hair away from
her face. What he saw shocked him so badly that he reeled against the
wall. "Viviane?"

She ignored him and fumbled with her wand, trying to unlock the door.
Finally managing it, she stumbled into the room and fell on the bed, eyes
closed. "Go away, Remus. We said our goodbyes this morning, as I
recall."

"Viviane? What happened? Was it Mortimer? What did they do to you?"

"Yes. He had one of his thugs work me over, and then Mort favored
me with the Cruciatus Curse."

Remus' voice was hushed. "He used one of the Unforgivable Curses
on you?"

Viviane peered up at him with an exasperated expression, then shut her
eyes. "No, he tickled me with a feather."

She heard a chair scrape across the floor and Remus sat down next to
the bed. "We should get Anthony to look at you. Your face-"
He lightly touched the livid bruise on her cheek, and Viviane flinched.
"Stop that. It's all superficial. Mort wants to keep me around, so
this is just a lesson. I'll be fine in a week."

"Are you sure? You seem to be having trouble breathing."

"Oh, I've got some broken ribs, another injury that just needs time.
I'll be fine." She heard Remus leave the room and tried not to mind
that he was gone for good, but it took an effort to keep tears back. Then
she heard him re-enter.

"Here. Drink this. Emma made it for you. It will let you sleep off
the initial pain from your injuries."

Viviane tried to raise an eyebrow but found it hurt too much. "Made
it for you, you mean. Emma has fallen for your gorgeous brown eyes and
gentlemanly manner!"

"Drink up and sleep, you silly girl." Viviane took a sip and
as Remus turned to leave, she said, "One last bit of advice before
you go. Remus, you're a wonderful man, you really are. But you have got
to lose the habit of being always right. It's an infuriating trait, in
a man especially. Do yourself a favor and work on losing that."

Remus grinned at her. "Right. You can elaborate for me when you
wake up. I'll be here, I promise."

//

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